<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Talking to the Moon by romantichopelessly</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29233236">Talking to the Moon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/romantichopelessly/pseuds/romantichopelessly'>romantichopelessly</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(can it be slowburn? is it long enough?), Action &amp; Romance, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Blood Drinking, Fae &amp; Fairies, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hunters &amp; Hunting, Kidnapping, Love Confessions, M/M, Magic, Mild Blood, Non-Graphic Violence, Protective Logic | Logan Sanders, Roommates, Slow Burn, Vampires, Werewolves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:15:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29233236</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/romantichopelessly/pseuds/romantichopelessly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Logan is a man of routine. Routines are sensible. It's perfectly sensible that his routine revolves around his roommate. Virgil. Even though his roommate doesn't know that he's a vampire. Even though his roommate doesn't know that he is in love with him.</p><p>Or: Virgil and Logan are vampires. And neither of them know about the other. And they were roommates.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Minor or Background Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>113</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Talking to the Moon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic started as a Halloween fic. Then, I decided that I wanted to try and make it my longest one shot. I shot for 8k. Now it is so much more than that and I have honestly poured my heart and soul into this one. I'm actually excited to post it. I hope that you all like it just as much.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bright fall leaves littered the cracked sidewalk as Logan made his way home from work. The satisfying crunch of them underneath his loafers was something that he would never admit to enjoying as much as he did. Past the buildings lining the city street, a soft orange hue was beginning to light up the dark sky, encapsulating what most would see as the perfect morning.</p><p>Logan glanced down at his watch. 6:53 A.M. He picked up his pace. The stop at the early morning coffee shop had been on an ill-advised whim, and though the warmth that the cup of earl gray tea radiated into the chilled skin of his palm was welcome, Logan did not want to end up regretting the indulgence by arriving at his apartment after sunrise.</p><p>An early morning breeze stirred Logan’s scarf and nipped at his nose with a bite that would cause most to shudder and hunch back into their coat. Logan, however, maintained perfect posture, completely unaffected by the temperature as he rounded the corner of the block with purpose, the door to the apartment complex that he lived in now in sight.</p><p>Long fingers fished in his pocket for a moment before hooking through his keyring. The black fuzzy keychain that his roommate had gifted him weeks ago brushed against his palm as he climbed the concrete steps and pushed open the door with force, anticipating the way that it stuck, just as it had every morning for the past year and a half.</p><p>Logan stepped inside, an unvocalized sigh of relief smothered in his chest. Behind him, the door fell shut, locking out the cold breeze and rising sun.</p><p>Logan picked his way across the lobby, keys still in hand. He paused for a moment at the mailboxes, glancing over boxes 221A and 221B. Nothing new. He hummed softly to himself and continued up to his apartment.</p><p>His keys turned with a satisfying click in the lock and Logan finally let himself breathe, a habit of relief more than a need.</p><p>A deep inhale. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.</p><p>Was that tomato soup that he smelled?</p><p>Thirst burned at the back of Logan’s throat. He swallowed it down as he toed off his shoes and deposited his keys in the bowl by the front door, the jingle alerting anyone listening to his whereabouts.</p><p>“L?”</p><p>Which, of course, was exactly what Logan wanted. A completely artificial warmth bloomed in Logan’s chest.</p><p>“Virgil.” Logan called back, an inexplicable smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Padding down the hallway, Logan rounded the corner to the community room to see his roommate curled up on the far corner of the couch--a position that Logan had found Virgil in more times than he could possibly count.</p><p>Though he supposed that he would have had to count them had he been asked.</p><p>“Hey.” Virgil’s voice was as gruff as it always was. His legs were curled beneath him, cushioning his laptop on his lap, and his hands were curled around a mug of something deep red. Likely the soup that Logan had smelled when he entered. It reminded Logan of the cup of tea that he was still holding. He turned and headed for the connected kitchen for his add-ins before he could drink it. “How was work?” Virgil called after him.</p><p>“Satisfactory.” Logan replied, depositing the paper cup containing his earl gray on the counter before opening the fridge. “There were not many visitors at the planetarium tonight. Just the couples.” Logan wrapped his fingers around the jam jar that he was searching for. He pulled the top off of the to-go cup with one hand and rooted around in a drawer for a spoon with the other. He shoveled two or three (most definitely three) spoonfuls of the red gelled substance into his tea and stirred it quickly before closing the cup and jar both, putting the jar back in their shared refrigerator and finally turning to fully face his roommate.</p><p>“That’s good.” Virgil watched him with pensive eyes, eyes that made Logan’s mind do funny things, like imagine that Virgil’s look was a bit more fond than it really was. Logan crossed the room again and sat on the middle cushion of the couch, taking a slow sip of his tea. Virgil immediately stretched out his legs and nestled them underneath Logan’s thighs.</p><p>“What about you? How was your day?” Logan asked, politely.</p><p>Virgil shrugged with a single shoulder. “Same old, same old. Do a bit of work, read a ton of emails, get bored and listen to music and stare at the ceiling on the company dime.”</p><p>“You are self employed, Virgil.” Logan felt the need to point out.</p><p>Virgil shrugged again, this time with a coy smile on his face. “What can I say? I’m a tough boss. Sometimes you just have to stick it to the man. And by the man, I mean me. And by you, I also mean me.”</p><p>Logan watched, emotions that he could not name despite all of his years welling in his chest as Virgil leaned forward and took a long sip from his mug of soup. To suppress the sudden insatiable urge to say something stupid like <i>‘you look like a dream, sitting on this musty old couch with tomato soup on your upper lip’</i>, Logan took a long sip of his own drink, hiding his wry smile at Virgil’s antics.</p><p>Despite the emotions rolling and bubbling within Logan, the silence that followed was not uncomfortable. Rather, the quiet felt full in a way. Virgil’s feet wiggled underneath Logan’s thigh, searching for a warmth that Logan wished he could provide more of. Virgil let out a quiet sigh as he leaned back against the corner of the couch that he was nestled into. Logan let the coppery twinged tea in his throat warm him for a moment, as the stresses of the day rolled off of his shoulders and evaporated, as they were wont to do when Virgil was around.</p><p>“Want to watch some <i>Cosmos</i>?”</p><p>Logan perked up, a slight smile on his lips. Not so wide that he would show his fangs, which had, of course, descended due to his thirst, but a small quirk of the lips that never could be pulled back in Virgil’s presence. “I’d love nothing more.”</p><p>----</p><p><i>P&amp;J’s Coffee Shop</i> was never truly busy. It was a nice coffee shop, to be sure. Virgil’s favorite, in fact. Where else in the world could he get a perfectly brewed O negative espresso? </p><p>Of course, the secret menu being absolutely sublime had nothing to do with the reception of the café, as most of the daytime customers would be appalled by the contents of the midnight drinks. Which was quite a shame for the general public, but the lack of popularity was quite the plus in Virgil’s book, especially on nights like this, when he came to the café specifically to whine to his two best friends.</p><p>“Patton isn’t going to let me give you another espresso if you finish that one too soon. I’m already on their list for allowing you four shots in the first place.” Janus was leaning against the back counter, decidedly not restocking the refrigerator like Patton had asked him to.</p><p>Virgil grumbled in response, taking another long swig of his drink out of spite.</p><p>Janus rolled his two-toned eyes. “You’re a piece of work, Noir.”</p><p>On the very rare occasions that Virgil left his apartment, <i>P&amp;J’s</i> was usually his destination. The small, soft gothic inspired coffee shop fit his aesthetic perfectly. <i>P&amp;J’s</i> was one of the few creature-of-the-night-friendly spots in the city that wasn’t completely overrun. This lesser-known energy was exactly what kept it from being a target of hunters as well, which was quite the blessing, even though there were less and less incidences of slayings being reported as time went on.</p><p>And while Virgil was glad to be living in such a progressive time, he still was not about to put a target on his back by heading out to the more popular vampire and werewolf bars, clubs, restaurants and coffee shops around town.</p><p>“Shut up, Janus. I’m your best customer and you know it.” Virgil paused, thinking. A sly grin formed on his face. “Except for that fae you're always talking about, of course. But I know that you’re biased towards him.”</p><p>Were Janus a vampire, Virgil was positive that he would have hissed at that moment. As it was, Virgil could tell that Janus was just suppressing a growl. “Untrue. Shut up and drink your coffee, I no longer wish to speak with you.” Janus sniffed, turning his nose up at Virgil’s words. Despite the dramatics of the gesture, Janus somehow managed to look poised. He always did. </p><p>In Virgil’s--albeit limited--experience, it was very difficult for a werewolf to look so poised all of the time. However, Janus constantly defied those expectations. Even the three long scars that crossed the otherwise blemishless medium brown skin on the left side of his face and his left, caramel colored eye didn’t stop Janus from looking aloof at all times. Even on days like this, working in the café, with his long, dark and curly hair twisted into a loose knot at the base of his neck and a pastel yellow work apron on, Janus could make anything look as sophisticated as if he were about to attend a grand ball, and honestly, Virgil was a bit jealous.</p><p>Logan would probably be into Virgil if he took his appearance more seriously.</p><p>Janus was watching Virgil with a knowing look now, and the vampire scowled back. </p><p>“You know, Virgil.” Virgil hissed, pulling his cup closer to his chest defensively. He knew that tone. “I wouldn’t really be throwing around accusations like that. Glass houses, and all.”</p><p>Virgil’s shoulders rose up to his ears. An onlooker would say that he looked remarkably similar to an angry black cat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</p><p>“Oh you don’t? Must be hard being so old-”</p><p>“I’m 38.”</p><p>“Let me jog your memory.”</p><p>“Physically I’m only 24.”</p><p>“Cobwebs in your head aside,” Janus plowed on, “Logan Doyle? Your current roommate who you’ve been obnoxiously pining for for the past few months? The one that you come into <i>my</i> café to bemoan about at least once a week? You know, the <i>studious, oblivious, wonderful, handsome</i>-”</p><p>“Okay! I get it!” Virgil snapped, interrupting Janus’s infuriatingly accurate imitation of his voice. “All things unholy, why do I never come in when Pat is on the clock?”</p><p>Janus shrugged, a shit eating grin on his face that almost made Virgil want to take his drink and leave. Almost. “It likely has something to do with the fact that you only come out here during Doyle’s working hours. Suspiciously sentimental, wanting to spend every moment you can with your roommate, don’t you think?”</p><p>Virgil bristled. “Stop saying stuff like that, Janus.” He knew that the barista was joking. Hell, Janus had teased Virgil about this exact subject far too many times. He really should not be so touchy about it. It was very likely that the only reason that Janus’s ribbing was rubbing him the wrong way today was the events of the night--<i>dawn?</i>--previous.</p><p>Logan had looked so… fetching coming home that particular early morning. The soft wool of his sweater vest looked almost irresistibly touchable. The contented look on his face as he took slow sips from his tea. The way the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly as he fought away laughter at Virgil’s not-actually-that-funny quips while they watched <i>Cosmos</i>. </p><p>“Ugh, are you <i>reminiscing</i>? Didn’t you see him less than an hour ago?” Virgil curled in on himself, glaring up at Janus’s feigned disgusted look. “Keep that out of my coffee shop.”</p><p>Virgil was about to retort when a light, melodic voice piped up from the front door. “Your coffee shop? Well darn! You should have told me that you were taking over, Jan! I wouldn’t have come in.”</p><p>Virgil turned on his stool to look at Patton, who was smiling widely, unabashedly showing their fangs for all the world to see. Behind him, Virgil could hear Janus’s amused snort.</p><p>Patton Darling was an older vampire than Virgil was, though by all other standards they were still rather young at 49. They looked younger than Virgil, and although their physical appearances only differed by three years, Virgil couldn’t help but feel like he paled in comparison to Patton. Patton had that ethereal beauty about them that all vampires were supposed to have, but on them it looked effortless and… simply put, <i>right</i>. Their smooth, deep brown skin and sapphire blue eyes glowed in an inhuman sort of way that could enchant any mortal, and most immortals that Patton happened to meet. This week, their hair was a pastel purple. The previous week it had been a sunflower yellow. It was like Patton wanted to call attention to themself, something that Virgil and most other vampires avoided.</p><p>Between them and Janus, Virgil wasn’t sure who was more mysteriously stunning. Had Logan been in the room, the sheer amount of beauty in the café probably would have knocked him unconscious.</p><p>“Hey, Pat.” Virgil couldn’t help but smile back at the older vampire.</p><p>“Hi, Virgil! How are you today?” Patton pat Virgil’s shoulder genially as they slipped past him to get behind the counter with Janus.</p><p>“He’s pining again.” Janus answered before Virgil could. “Also he snuck four shots of espresso when I wasn’t looking.”</p><p>Virgil glared at Janus with a renewed vigor as Patton gasped. “Virgil! You know that that isn’t good for you!” Janus nodded from behind Patton, a smug grin on his face. </p><p>“I don’t really digest it.” Virgil pointed out. He certainly was not pouting under Patton’s stern gaze.</p><p>“Hmph.” Patton looked dissatisfied with that answer, but they didn’t push it, thankfully. “Well, what did Logan do this time?”</p><p>Then again, maybe Virgil would rather they continued to chew him out for his coffee choices. </p><p>“He just-” Virgil sighed. If he had a beating heart or blood running through his veins, Virgil just knew that he would have been blushing by now. “You know.” He gestured helplessly.</p><p>“Existed in your presence?” Janus quipped.</p><p>“<i>Exactly!</i>”</p><p>Patton hummed sympathetically. Virgil knew that they could relate to hopeless crushes. For all the time that Virgil had known them, they had been in love with some man or another. “I’m sorry, kiddo.”</p><p>Virgil grumbled. “I look older than you.”</p><p>Patton paid no attention, but dropped the pet name. “You should really just tell him. Be honest about your feelings! What’s the worst that could happen?”</p><p>Janus and Virgil glanced at one another before leveling Patton with their best ‘are-you-actually-serious’ look. </p><p>“So many things.” Virgil could almost name them by heart by now. He had run them over in his mind so many times. “For one, he doesn’t even know that I’m a vampire. I’d have to drop that bombshell on him, and you know that he’d just be scared off. At least now I have him as a friend.”</p><p>Suddenly, Janus had turned his dubious stare away from Patton, and Virgil had both of his friends staring at him with matching looks of… amusement? Surprise? Sympathy? Virgil couldn’t tell, but he very much felt like Janus was not on his side in this conversation any longer.</p><p>“Are you kidding?” Janus’s voice held a note of high pitched incredulity that only confused Virgil further. Janus turned to Patton, unhidden laughter in his tone now. “Is he kidding? Does he not know-”</p><p>From the way that the werewolf winced, Virgil got the distinct impression that Patton had just stomped on his foot. Bewildered, Virgil turned to Patton. “Know what? Pat, what is he talking about?”</p><p>Janus looked like he was about to break into a laughing fit. “You-”</p><p>“Shh!” Patton nudged Janus, sending him a very severe pointed look. They turned back to Virgil, who felt <i>extremely</i> lost. “It’s nothing, V. He’s just being stupid.”</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“What Janus means to say is that you can’t be sure how he’ll react. You really should tell him, Virgil.” Their eyes were kind, but Virgil could not shake the distinct feeling that he was being made fun of.</p><p>Knowing that he would definitely not be following that advice, and that Janus was about two seconds away from laughing in his face for some reason, Virgil pushed away from the coffee bar and stood up, clutching his O negative espresso.</p><p>“Yeah, alright. Look, I’ve got to be going.” He gestured lamely over his shoulder.</p><p>“Oh! Okay, Virgil. Well, good night!” Patton waved as Virgil backed away from the bar towards the door. Janus looked like he was in a lot of pain. Probably because Patton was standing on his foot. “<i>Sucks</i> to see you go!”</p><p>Virgil turned and dashed out of the store. As the door to the café swung shut behind him, he could hear Janus break into a deafening cackle.</p><p>Weird.</p><p>----</p><p>The view of the night sky from the planetarium never ceased to amaze Logan. </p><p>Despite the fact that he had worked at the planetarium as a lecturer for approximately two years now, the sight from the observation deck would always be a sight to behold. Logan had spent many, many years under the same stars, and he had never once beheld anything as beautiful as them.</p><p>Well, perhaps there were one or two things that rivaled starshine from the heavens.</p><p>Like his roommate’s crooked smile. Or his alluring violet eyes, and how they lit up with a fond twinkle that Logan used to think could never be aimed at him. Virgil’s laugh also rivaled the constellations that Logan knew by heart--the way it dipped and fell, how it was low and gravely sometimes, stirring something deep in Logan’s stomach. </p><p>Even now, Logan was staring up at the sky--his one true love for over a century and a half--Logan found himself wishing that he were at home, sitting with Virgil on the couch, watching a sitcom.</p><p>Logan was startled out of his musings by the clearing of a throat. </p><p>Blinking, Logan tore his eyes away from the open sky. A man--a customer--stood before Logan. The first thing that Logan noticed were the sunglasses that the man was wearing. They were perched on top of his curly black hair, almost unnoticeable in the dark of the planetarium. Why on earth would anyone be wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night? Judging by the rest of the man’s outfit, a black leather jacket, a nondescript gray t-shirt and ripped jeans, Logan presumed that it was simply part of this man’s aesthetic.</p><p>Virgil would probably have approved. Or called him a try-hard. It was hard to predict Virgil’s opinions.</p><p>“Yes, sir?” Logan finally got around to responding, his polite customer service voice on.</p><p>The man smiled charmingly. It was quite unlike Virgil’s unsure smile, which often left Logan feeling as though he were the only one in the world who got to see it. This man looked like he handed out smiles to any and everyone.</p><p>There was something… familiar about him. It nagged on the back of Logan’s mind.</p><p>“I was wondering when the next lecture was.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement of a question. Again, Logan explained it away. Many customers were entitled and downright rude to him. This certainly was not out of the norm, or even noteworthy.</p><p>Logan glanced at his watch, as if he didn’t know the planetarium’s schedule by heart. It was nearly 5:30 A.M. “I’m sorry, sir.”  Logan answered as he looked back up. The man was a bit closer than he had been before. Logan took a step back. “We are actually about to close for a couple of hours before morning tours of the museum can begin.”</p><p>That was another odd thing. Not many customers stayed around the planetarium as morning was arriving. Logan usually had the last hour or so of his shift free of customers on weekdays.</p><p>“Bummer.” The man did not sound too put out by this information. “I was really looking forward to hearing your lecture, Mr. Doyle.”</p><p>Logan felt distinctly uncomfortable now. He knew, logically, that the man could know his name for any number of reasons. It was all over the pamphlets set out around the room. It was on the badge stuck to Logan’s turtleneck. However, the way that the man said it…</p><p>“It is Doctor, but thank you.” Logan said, stiffly. “If you return another night, I’m sure that you can make it to a show.” Logan very much did not want this man to return another night.</p><p>“Do you work any day shifts?” </p><p>Logan hadn’t seen the man move, but he was closer once again. Logan took another step back, hoping that his distancing himself was not too obvious. “Sadly, no. I am here most nights, however. There are schedules on our free pamphlets.” He wished that there were not schedules on their free pamphlets.</p><p>The man was just opening his mouth to speak again when the doors to the planetarium burst open, and a young man in a pale pink sweater tumbled through.</p><p>“Came in early, Doc! Couldn’t get much sleep last night, so I thought I’d come in a few hours early and let you go! I can do the cleaning before my shift starts, and you can get home to- Oh. Hello.”</p><p>Logan held back a sigh of relief. It helped greatly that he did not need to breathe. “Hello, Dr. Picani. I was just telling this customer-”</p><p>“Nate. Nate Miller.” The man, Nate, had looked very disgruntled to be interrupted, Logan had not failed to notice. Now, however, he was smiling charmingly once again as he crossed the couple of steps between Logan and the door to shake Dr. Emile Picani’s hand.</p><p>“Nice to meet ’cha!” Emile exclaimed, sending a slightly confused look over Nate’s shoulder to Logan. Logan shook his head. No. He did not know this man. Emile, the saint that he was, stepped in gracefully, making up for his clumsiness at the door before. “Well, I can answer any questions that you have now! My friend, Logan, here is going to be going home early. You can stick around while I clean up before we close for a bit.”</p><p>Nate looked very much disgruntled with this turn of events, but Logan did not give him a chance to respond, grabbing his messenger bag as quickly as a human possibly could.</p><p>Nodding his thanks to Emile, Logan tried to maintain a neutral stature and pace as he left the planetarium, scanning out at the buzzer by the door and grabbing his keys.</p><p>He felt eyes on him all the way out.</p><p>----</p><p>When Virgil got back from <i>P&amp;J’s</i> it was only 4 A.M.</p><p>Which meant that he had about three hours before Logan got back from work. </p><p>Was it odd for one to measure time by their roommate’s whereabouts? Virgil wasn’t quite sure. To be fair, he had never had a roommate that he was so attached to. Logan was… special.</p><p>Virgil shook that thought away. Logan wasn’t even home yet, and all Virgil could seem to think about was him. It was Janus and Patton’s fault. What they had said was sitting in the back of his mind and making him think all kinds of crazy things. </p><p>Like that he should possibly… maybe consider telling Logan his feelings.</p><p>Virgil bit the inside of his cheek harshly, shoving that thought as far away as he possibly could. No. Not an option. Logan was just a human who was unluckily living with a vampire. Virgil could never ruin his life like that.</p><p>Determined to distract himself, Virgil placed his phone face up on the kitchen counter and turned on some music.</p><p>Usually, around the apartment, Virgil would only listen to his music with his headphones on. Music was a very personal thing. Not to mention that blasting music that other people may not like was too much of a risk for is anxiety ridden self.</p><p>However, tonight--that morning?--Virgil needed to blast the traitorous thoughts out of his mind, and he didn’t feel like dealing with the headache that would surely come with wearing headphones on full blast. So, Virgil queued up his favorite distraction playlist of early 2000s punk songs and played it for all the empty kitchen to hear.</p><p>For the next hour or so, Virgil bobbed his head along to bands that reminded him of when he was still alive and worked on his computer. Being a web developer and consultant had its perks, the greatest among them being the lack of strict hours and the absence of human interaction. </p><p>Just after half past five, Virgil was bored. Not that his job was particularly thrilling most nights, but what Janus had said earlier was still bothering him.</p><p>What had the werewolf been insinuating? He had acted like he knew something that Virgil didn’t. And Patton hadn’t exactly proved Virgil’s suspicions wrong. In fact, they had seemed just as amused by whatever secret Janus was keeping from Virgil.</p><p>It was infuriating. His two best friends, and he couldn’t for the undead life of him figure out their angle.</p><p>Why did they want Virgil to out himself as a vampire to Logan? If it were just Patton, Virgil would simply assume that they wanted him to be happy, but Janus… Janus knew a bit more about what could happen if their secrets were outed. And yet he had still acted like Virgil keeping his blood drinking habits a secret from Logan was some sort of joke.</p><p>Virgil groaned, burying his head in his hands and pushing his computer aside.</p><p>Looked like he was going to get that headache whether he liked it or not. </p><p>Just as he was lamenting his choices in friends, the song changed and Virgil reached for his phone without thinking. With only a few taps on the screen, Virgil closed out of his current playlist and pulled up one that he had clocked many an hour listening to in the early hours of dawn, shut up in his room, curled up on his bed and hugging a pillow.</p><p>It was simply titled “Logan” with a blue heart emoji.</p><p>He never had been very creative.</p><p>Before he could think about the ramifications of his decision, Virgil had pressed the shuffle button and set his phone back down.</p><p>
  <i>“Now that she’s back in the atmosphere<br/>
With drops of Jupiter in her hair<br/>
She acts like summer and walks like rain<br/>
Reminds me that there’s a time to change”</i>
</p><p>Virgil closed his eyes and let the music wash over him. It was silly. It was really, really, really silly, and Virgil knew for a fact that if Janus were here to see what Virgil was doing, Virgil would probably die for the second time.</p><p>That knowledge didn’t stop him from getting up and sliding slowly around his own dark kitchen in his socks, though.</p><p>For a good couple of songs, Virgil danced alone in the kitchen. Not really danced, just sort of swayed in place and slid around, but that didn’t matter. All the while, he thought of Logan. His roommate who wore hideously outdated, probably thrifted, sweater vests like they were the height of fashion. His roommate who watched bad documentaries with him and ate terribly sugary jelly right from the jar in the fridge. His roommate who still used that ugly black fluffy keychain that Virgil had given him as a joke weeks ago. </p><p>Maybe he should tell Logan. About his feelings or about his nature, he wasn’t quite sure. He hadn’t decided when a pair of smooth, comfortably chilled hands slipped into his and a soft voice spoke.</p><p>“Can’t say I’ve ever come home to this before.”</p><p>Virgil’s eyes flew open. He had been so deep in his own mind that he hadn’t even heard the door unlock. For the tiniest of moments, he tensed, all too aware of the type of music that was currently pouring from his phone, but he quickly relaxed.</p><p>Logan tended to have that effect on him.</p><p>Maybe he should have been more wary of that. He wasn’t.</p><p>“You’re home early.” He responded, trying to hide his burning embarrassment. It was quickly overshadowed by the sudden, all too visceral knowledge that Logan had placed one of his hands on Virgil’s waist and was now leading the two of them in a real dance.</p><p>In the middle of their dark kitchen, illuminated only by the light of the refrigerator clock and the glow from Virgil’s abandoned laptop, while the jazzy notes of <i>Fly Me to the Moon</i> played in the background.</p><p>He could die again happy.</p><p>Logan was nodding. “Yes. My coworker, Emile, showed up early and let me take the hour off. Something about being unable to sleep. I probably should have been more worried for him.”</p><p>Virgil couldn’t stop his lips from quirking up in a small smile. He didn’t even try to. “Lucky me. And- I mean, lucky you, of course. An hour off. That must be nice.”</p><p>Logan hummed. “It’s turning out to be, yes.”</p><p>The two of them turned slowly as the song faded out. Logan didn’t let go, so Virgil didn’t either. Feeling uncharacteristically brave, or perhaps just a bit too comfortable, Virgil leaned forward and rested his head on Logan’s shoulder.</p><p>His turtleneck was soft against Virgil’s cheek.</p><p>
  <i>“I know you're somewhere out there<br/>
Somewhere far away<br/>
I want you back, I want you back<br/>
My neighbors think I'm crazy<br/>
But they don't understand<br/>
You're all I have, you're all I have</i>
</p><p>
  <i>At night, when the stars light up my room<br/>
I sit by myself<br/>
Talking to the moon<br/>
Trying to get to you<br/>
In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me too<br/>
Or am I a fool, who sits alone, talking to the moon?”</i>
</p><p>They were silent as the music played. They swayed slowly. Logan led them in circles effortlessly. Distantly, Virgil wondered whether Logan had some professional training on his front. At one point, during the chorus of their second song, Logan pushed Virgil back slightly. Just as he was about to apologize for taking liberties and invading Logan’s space, though, Logan lifted their joined hands.</p><p>Virgil spun underneath, an incredulous laugh floating easily from his chest.</p><p>His fangs flashed in the laptop’s glow just as he was facing away from his roommate.</p><p>Logan caught Virgil back in his arms easily, pulling him back to their original position and rubbing his thumb along Virgil’s waist in a way that gave him goosebumps.</p><p>It dawned on Virgil as the sun dawned on the city streets.</p><p>He was desperately, irrevocably in love with Logan Doyle.</p><p>----</p><p>“I’m in love with him.”</p><p>Remus choked on his thai food, noodles still half out of his mouth. “What the fuck?”</p><p>“I am in love with him.” Logan repeated. “What did you think that I said?”</p><p>Remus spat out his noodles in a frankly disgusting display that Logan was sadly used to. “No! I heard you, I’m just flabbergasted!”</p><p>“Nice word.” Logan commented.</p><p>“You’re in- I can’t even say it! You sound like Roman! I knew that you had the hots for Virgey, but in <i>love</i>-” Remus fake retched.</p><p>Logan bristled, but before he could make a sarcastic remark about how much less disgusting his feelings were than Remus’s… everything, Roman stepped out from the back room.</p><p>“You know that I can hear you, right?”</p><p>Roman rounded the counter, his knee length skirt swaying against his legs. Roman and Remus were starkly different. Where Roman wore flowy, soft and stylish clothing, Remus was all hard lines and punk outfits. However, both had plenty of tattoos. Roman’s right arm was nearly covered with brightly colored tattoos that looked like a watercolor project. Remus had a similar, monochrome sleeve on his left arm. </p><p>Roman and Remus were co-owners of the tattoo parlor known as <i>King’s Inks</i>, named for their own last names. Logan never came in for an actual tattoo, they weren’t really his style, but the brothers were always welcoming to him. It wasn’t hard, even when living in a big city, for the creatures unknown to most humans to find one another. People like Logan… and people like Roman they stuck together. No matter if they both enjoyed tattoos or not.</p><p>Roman King and Remus King looked like normal, human twins to most. Other than Roman’s slightly pointed ears, of course. If someone was not in the know about fae or changelings, then they may just assume that it was just a part of Roman’s unique style.</p><p>“I don’t care! Lolo’s lost his mind!”</p><p>Logan scoffed. “I assure you, my mind is very much intact and in my head, thank you. Do not insert me into your arguments with your sibling.”</p><p>“Please, Rem.” Roman rolled his eyes, completely ignoring Logan, as if the conversation were not completely about him and his emotions. “Stop acting like you’re so disgusted by displays of emotion, already.”</p><p>“Acting? Bold of you to assume that I can act. You’re the acting one. Your entire existence is based on acting like me.”</p><p>Roman huffed, dramatically. “As if you weren’t waxing poetic about Patton last Thursday! Logan remembers! Don’t you, Logan?”</p><p>“I was under the impression that we were talking about me this week.”</p><p>Roman waved his hand dismissively. “He means he remembers. So cut the bull, Remus.”</p><p>Remus rolled his eyes, but did not defend himself. His mouth was full of thai food again anyway.</p><p>Roman glared at his brother for just a second longer before returning his attention to Logan. Instantly, his expression was brighter, almost giddy. “In <i>love</i>?! Finally you got around to admitting it! What happened? Did something happen? Was it cute?”</p><p>“We danced.” Logan answered, simply. He had long surpassed any feelings of embarrassment around the King twins.</p><p>Roman squealed. Quite literally, squealed. Logan winced and leaned away. Remus fake retched again.</p><p>“You’re not going to just say that and not tell us everything, are you?” Roman hopped up to sit on the counter across from where Logan and Remus were sitting at the small table in the waiting room.</p><p>And so Logan did. Not because Roman King was particularly good at convincing, but because, not so secretly, Logan really had just come to the tattoo shop to tell his friends everything. That was what these weekly meetings were for, after all. It wasn’t official, or anything, but it had become expected for Logan to turn up at the tattoo parlor every Thursday to chat with Roman and Remus about all manners of things.</p><p>Most particularly, their individual romantic endeavors.</p><p>As Logan recounted the events of the previous night, Roman looked more and more excited. Usually, Logan would be frightened by such a level of sheer giddy enjoyment on the fae’s face, but today Logan could feel nothing less than happy. Content.</p><p>He still didn’t really know where his own courage had come from the night before. What exactly had possessed him upon entering their apartment to find Virgil swaying alone in the kitchen to music? Why had he suddenly acquired the romantic prowess it took to lead his roommate in an impromptu dance around the linoleum floor? Was it simply love?</p><p>Did it really matter?</p><p>Apparently not, according to the twins. Even Remus looked begrudgingly moved at the end of Logan’s tale.</p><p>“So when are you going to tell him?” The human twin asked.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Logan asked, confused. He had only just discovered these feelings, why on earth did Remus believe that he should instantly confess them? Honestly, Logan was much more comfortable enjoying this discovery in private, thank you very much.</p><p>“You should tell him!” Roman nearly shouted. “Don’t tell me that you’re just… <i>not going to</i>.”</p><p>“That was the plan, yes.”</p><p>“Wh- <i>Men</i>.” Roman exclaimed, falling back dramatically to lay across the bar that he was still sitting on.</p><p>Logan huffed. “This has nothing to do with my gender, Roman.” He wasn’t really offended by the comment, of course, he was just deflecting. Roman himself was genderfluid and was quite liberal with his comments about men, whether he was using he/him pronouns at the moment or not. “I just do not plan on telling Virgil about this right now. I see no reason to.”</p><p>“The reason is that you can be <i>happy</i>, Logan.”</p><p>Logan blinked, turning to face Remus. The moustached twin looked shockingly somber. Serious. It was like spotting a unicorn, seeing Remus like this. “I-”</p><p>“Logan, just listen and don’t talk for once.” Logan desperately wanted to point out that coming from Remus, such a statement was frankly laughable, but he bit his tongue. “You’ve been alive for nearly two centuries.” Logan barely held back a wince at the reminder of his age. Remus continued, completely carelessly. “And how many times have you really, and I mean <i>really</i> let yourself fall in love and stick with it?”</p><p>Logan could feel a lump of shame forming in his throat. He swallowed around it.</p><p>Roman picked up this time. His voice was much more soothing than his brother’s, but no less stern. “You’re always working, Logan. You’re always going, and we get it. You’ve been stuck at twenty-six years old for over a hundred and fifty years. You keep moving because the world keeps moving around you.” There was something sad in Roman’s golden-green eyes for a split second, but it was quickly masked. “You have to take a chance every once in a while. You <i>should</i> tell Virgil about your feelings. You know that you would be saying the same thing were it either of us.”</p><p>Remus continued. “Listen to your besties for once, Logan. You’ve been coming in here and going on and on about Virgil for weeks. Months. I don’t even know, it’s been so long. But the point is that you need to tell him. It’s been long enough, even Roman is tired of it. Not to mention, I’d bet my ass he feels the same.”</p><p>There was a moment of silence. Those were few and far between in <i>King’s Inks</i>.</p><p>Remus broke it after a few seconds, as though continuing his thought from earlier. “And you <i>desperately</i> need to get laid.”</p><p>Logan wrinkled his nose, distastefully. “<i>Honestly</i>, Remus, can you resist being vile for longer than ten minutes?”</p><p>Remus grinned, proudly digging back into his thai food. “Nope! It’s what I’m here for.” There was a momentary pause. “No, literally. It’s why the fair folk brought me back after switching me with Ro.”</p><p>Roman rolled his eyes. “It is not. Stop talking bad about yourself, or I’m going across the street and telling Patton.”</p><p>Logan may have been mistaken, or too caught up in his own issues, but for a moment there, it looked as though Remus’s cheeks were brushed with a light shade of pink. </p><p>As the brother’s began to bicker, Logan pulled back into his own thoughts. Perhaps… Should he tell Virgil? Despite the raging swarm of butterflies that attacked the pit of Logan’s stomach at the very thought, he had to admit that letting his emotions out in the open would feel a lot better than continuing living with Virgil for however much longer, pretending that he felt nothing more than friendship for him. It was already agony just in his mind’s eye.</p><p>There were so many possible downsides, though. Logically, Logan knew that Virgil would not become angry if Logan were to confess. It was highly unlikely that Virgil would cut off all contact with Logan or kick him out of the apartment, either. In fact, after the previous night’s display…</p><p>Logan, holding Virgil against his chest as though he were something precious--because he <i>was</i>, of course--the two of them twirling around their tiny kitchen, as though they were the only two people in the world. Soft music playing from Virgil’s phone, the perfect songs for them luckily playing back to back, as if hand picked. Logan had had the lyrics swirling in his mind on repeat ever since. It had been… magical. Lovely. Wonderful. Everything that Logan had never known he needed.</p><p>And it was well worth the risk of mortification that he could forget in fifty years if Logan had even the slightest of chances to hold onto Virgil like that again.</p><p>“I’m going to do it.” Logan’s voice rang out, perfectly clear, over the twins’ quickly heating argument.</p><p>Roman gasped. “Really? I didn’t think we would be able to talk you into it!”</p><p>“You didn’t. I simply decided that it was a low risk, high reward situation. Statistically, I have more to lose by not attempting to tell Virgil my… discovery than I do by telling him.”</p><p>“Cut the bull, nerd.” Remus was grinning again, in a way that would have appeared almost… menacing, were Logan not so used to Remus’s odd expressions. “We all know that you did not actually calculate the statistical risk of telling Virgil you’re in-” Remus caught up to his own words and dramatically retched again, as though the very word he was about to say was an allergen.</p><p>“In love,” Roman finished for his brother, “I can’t believe you’re going to do it! Oh- You should get some flowers for him from the shop down the street! The warlock who owns it is always so perceptive about what to get for which occasion. Oh, this will be so romantic-”</p><p>Logan cleared his throat. “You do know that if- when I tell Virgil, you will not be in attendance, correct?”</p><p>Roman waved a hand dismissively. “Details.”</p><p>Remus stood and stretched, his back cracking loudly. “Alright, well if you two are about to plan the most boring pre-fuck in the world, I’m going down to the café. You two want anything?”</p><p>The vampire and the fae both shook their hands, and Remus left the tattoo parlor, the bell above the door jingling jovially over the quick chatter from Roman as the door swung shut behind him.</p><p>----</p><p>Virgil couldn’t focus on his work.</p><p>To be fair, Virgil had never been good at focusing on his job. When he wasn’t actually consulting, Virgil was a developer. Which meant that he essentially made his own schedule. Which also meant that he had no accountability for any sort of timeline.</p><p>It became especially hard when Virgil’s mind was completely occupied by Logan Doyle.</p><p>Virgil, lately, had spent quite a bit of every day thinking about Logan. But after the night before… Virgil couldn’t stop thinking about him. Every time he closed his eyes, he was there again, in the middle of the kitchen, breathing in Logan’s vanilla scented cologne. Every time he paused between keystrokes, the notes from the music that had played that night floated through his mind. </p><p>It was unbearably distracting.</p><p>Patton had texted Virgil at about 1 A.M., asking whether he would be at the café that night. At first, Virgil had considered sending back a snarky text telling them that he would not be returning to <i>P&amp;J’s</i> until Janus stopped being a little shit and avoiding telling him what his little laughing fit during his last visit had been about.</p><p>Instead, however, out of his own gracious nature, Virgil held back his sarcasm.</p><p>It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that he had spent the past 20 hours feeling as though his chest were full of bubbles, imagining Logan’s hand on his waist.</p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>not tonight. I’ve got work to do.</i></p><p><i>What happened?</i> Patton texted back immediately. </p><p>Virgil cursed his friend’s intuition.</p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>nothing! I just don’t feel like coffee.</i></p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>And you do feel like work?</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>no, I feel like being at home.</i></p><p>There was a pause. Virgil watched as a bubble indicating that Patton was typing appeared and disappeared about three times in quick succession. </p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>Hold on. I’m moving this to the group chat.</i></p><p>Virgil cursed. If Janus got wind of what was happening, Virgil would never hear the end of it. Janus could sniff out Virgil’s emotional turmoil like no one else. No pun intended.</p><p>Before he could respond and tell them to not tell Janus under any circumstances, Patton had sent a text in the trio’s group chat.</p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>What’s going on, Virgil?</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>Something’s up with Virgil?</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>no. I just said I wasn’t coming in today.</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>Why not?</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>I have work to do!</i></p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>We’re just worried about you, honey.</i></p><p>Virgil groaned, but didn’t correct the pet name. Even though he didn’t like being coddled, sometimes the affection Patton put into their words wasn’t so bad. It certainly wasn’t a decision ruled by Virgil’s current good mood.</p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>I just wanted to stay home today. I’m fine.</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>That means you’re either mid depression spiral or-</i></p><p>Virgil softened a bit. His friends really did get him. It wouldn’t have been the first time that Virgil had fallen into a spiral since he met the two, and Janus and Patton were sadly well acquainted with Virgil’s moods. He knew that if he really were in the middle of an episode that Patton and Janus wouldn’t hesitate to close the coffee shop for the night and come keep him company.</p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>Are you? V?</i></p><p>Virgil shook his head and texted back quickly.</p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>I’m not. Really.</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>Oh fuck.</i></p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>???</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>Are you in bed with Logan right now?</i></p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>!!!</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>NO.</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>Are you about to be?</i></p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>!!!!!!!!!!!</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>no.</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>What happened, then?</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>none of your business. I just answered Pat’s text. I do not deserve to be interrogated.</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>This is not an interrogation. It is a series of educated guesses and negations.</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>I plead the fifth, then.</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>Not an interrogation. You have no rights.</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>didn’t you drop out of law school?</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>After my girlfriend nearly killed me, actually.</i></p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>Boys, let’s not fight. Are you sure you’re alright, Virgil?</i></p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>yeah, I promise.</i></p><p>Oddly enough, Virgil was considering expanding on what was actually going on--Patton tended to have that effect on him. They were amazingly good at pulling Virgil’s deepest thoughts from him. Something about their trust and gentle concern was surprisingly convincing. Just as he was about to respond, there was a knock at the door.</p><p>Virgil instantly tensed. It was only 1 in the morning. Even on Logan’s off nights, like Virgil knew tonight was, Logan never got home before 2 or 3.</p><p>And even when he was early or late, Logan had his own key. Of course he did. With that stupid fluffy black keychain that Virgil had clipped onto his key ring weeks ago.</p><p>Had something happened?</p><p>Virgil glanced back down at his phone and sent a quick dismissal text to his two friends.</p><p><b>Virgil:</b> <i>I’ll see you guys later. Gotta go.</i></p><p><b>Janus:</b> <i>Chicken.</i></p><p><b>Pat:</b> <i>Alright! Have a good night, Virgil!</i></p><p>Virgil couldn’t stop the way his lips quirked up at the texts. He was still looking down at his phone as he took his first few steps towards the apartment door. There was another, slightly less polite sounding knock on the door.</p><p>“Coming!” Virgil called, clicking his phone off and sliding it into the pocket of his hoodie. </p><p>The light from the hallway outside cast a shadow that Virgil could see in the crack underneath the door. Whoever was on the other side was standing rather close to the door. Virgil couldn’t quite shake the sense that there was something off. He tried not to focus on it too much. He was in a good mood. Whoever the hell it was knocking on his door at one in the morning was probably just at the wrong door.</p><p>Any other night, Virgil would have been more cautious.</p><p>Any other night, when Virgil was in any other mood than completely besotted, Virgil may not have answered the knock at all.</p><p>As it was, Virgil opened the apartment door with little to no hesitation.</p><p>On the other side, standing in the dimly lit hallway stood a man with a nest of curly black hair and a form-fitting leather jacket, a pair of sunglasses hanging from the neck of his plain black t-shirt. If Virgil didn’t feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up with some sort of instinctual unease, he may have thought that the man in front of him was handsome.</p><p>“Can I help you?” Anxiety seeped into Virgil’s tone. He looked the man up and down. The large boots. The perfectly straight posture. The tense shoulders. He suddenly wished very much that he had not opened the door.</p><p>The man smiled. There was something distinctly menacing about it. “Is Logan here?”</p><p>Virgil’s stomach twisted. He knew, suddenly, that he should not, under any circumstances, tell this man where Logan was. He felt his fangs poking at his lower lip, descending involuntarily. “Who are you?” His voice was gruffer than intended. The question was polite enough, but Virgil’s tone was nearly a hiss.</p><p>“I’m Nate Miller.” The man put a hand on the outside of the door. He didn’t push it open any wider than Virgil held it, but Virgil got the distinct impression that he would if Virgil made any sort of move to shut the door in his face.</p><p>“And you’re Virgil Noir, aren’t you?”</p><p>----</p><p>The warlock from the flower shop suggested that Logan go with a traditional bouquet of a dozen red roses.</p><p>Logan, however, while a traditional man of 182 years old, wanted something a bit more creative.</p><p>Roman had hovered over his shoulder for the entire exchange, offering his two cents with each choice that Logan attempted to make. His helpfulness was suffocating, but Logan didn’t let it deter him. </p><p>By the time that they were done, Logan had a beautiful, and rather pricey, bouquet picked out.</p><p>It was beautiful. It was wholly unnecessary, of course, but Logan didn’t mind getting caught up in Roman’s dramatics from time to time too much.</p><p>Virgil deserved as much.</p><p>The walk back to the apartment passed by Logan in a blur of cracked sidewalk and brisk air.</p><p>Logan had made this walk plenty of times before, but that time it felt… different. The air was full of promise, and though he was hesitant to admit it, even to himself, a sort of… hope that Logan hadn’t felt in a long, <i>long</i> time.</p><p>It was a breath of fresh air. Possibility.</p><p><i>Probability</i>, if Logan allowed himself to make a couple of more hopeful assumptions based on that look in Virgil’s eyes the night before.</p><p>It wasn’t until he got to the door of the apartment complex that any sort of anxiety started to catch up with him. Seeing Virgil usually brought a calm over Logan. Coming back to the apartment to see his roommate was in itself like unwinding after a long day. Virgil had an uncanny ability of loosening every ward that Logan set up around himself.</p><p>But as Logan ascended the stairs--the elevator would <i>definitely</i> take too long right then, especially since Logan had noticed that it was descending right as he walked into the building--he took note of the fluttering sensation in the pit of his stomach.</p><p>The bats taking nest in his gut quickly fell into a pit as Logan saw the door to their apartment.</p><p>The <i>open</i> door to their apartment.</p><p>The bouquet fell from Logan’s hands, tumbling to the carpeted floor of the hallway.</p><p>Logan was at the door in less than a second, much faster than any human could move.</p><p>The bolt on the door was scratched, as if it had been forced open. If Logan’s heart hadn’t already stopped beating, this would have put a halt to it. He pushed the door open lightly, slowly, as though the seconds that it took to do so would stop this from happening--stop what he was seeing from being true.</p><p>Carefully, residual training from his years of being a detective when he was alive kicking in, Logan picked his way into the room so as not to disturb what was inside.</p><p>The apartment, for the most part, was exactly as he had left it. Further in, Logan could see that the living room was undisturbed.</p><p>Whatever had happened hadn’t made it past the entryway. </p><p>The entryway itself was a mess. The corkboard that Logan had hung up on the wall was crooked, the miscellaneous take-out menus and schedules were either barely hanging on by their push pins or scattered across the floor. The umbrella stand was knocked completely to the ground, as was the dish that usually held their keys. It was laying on the wood floor, shattered. Virgil’s keys underneath.</p><p>The knot in Logan’s throat that had nothing to do with thirst tightened. Finally, emotion overtook care. “Virgil?!” Logan called out into the empty apartment. His voice echoed off of the walls.</p><p>Dashing forward, past the wreckage of their entryway, Logan entered the living room. He glanced around quickly, desperately, but it was empty. “Virgil?!” He turned on his heel. So was the kitchen. Fast as he possibly could, Logan was at the door to Virgil’s bedroom, throwing it open and finding it silent and desolate. Desperate, Logan shot to the door to his own bedroom and flung it open, only to find the same thing. </p><p>Shaking, Logan was back at the kitchen in a blink. Virgil’s laptop was sitting, untouched on the counter. Just as he was about to give up, something caught the corner of Logan’s eye.</p><p>A flash of white. Instantly, Logan was back at the front door, pushing it closed.</p><p>There, pinned to the door of his and Virgil’s apartment with a silver knife was a slip of paper.</p><p>Logan felt sick. It was paper from a pad that they kept in the kitchen. Paper that he usually wrote notes for Virgil on before he left for the night.</p><p>
  <i>Doyle,</i><br/>
I believe I have something you want. You know where to find me.<br/>
-NM
</p><p>The shaking stopped. The paper nearly tore with the force that Logan was gripping it. Clutching the note in one hand, Logan reached into the side pocket of his messenger bag for his cell phone. By the time that he had dialed Remus’s number, he was already out the front door of the apartment building.</p><p>----</p><p>It was barely fifteen minutes later when they all made it to <i>King’s Inks</i>.</p><p>Fifteen minutes too long, in Logan’s opinion.</p><p>Roman had just barely been able to talk Logan down from taking off after Virgil. </p><p>Rationally, Logan knew that he would have done the same thing if he were in Roman’s place. If he had snatched Remus's phone from his hand and heard himself, desperate and earth shakingly angry, raving about going off alone after a hunter of unknown ability, he would have talked himself down too.</p><p>That didn’t mean that he was any less angry about it.</p><p>When Logan had reached the tattoo parlor, only one twin had been waiting for him. When Roman told Logan that Remus had gone down the street to get the owners of the local coffee shop, Logan had nearly gone off on him. Thankfully, Roman’s bullshit detector and friendship was stronger than Logan’s ferocity.</p><p>The bell above the door had jingled not too long later, and Logan had stopped his pacing to look at the new arrivals.</p><p>Remus entered the tattoo parlor followed by two rather eclectic characters that Logan could only assume were the owners of the café down the street. He barely listened through introductions, just gathering the essentials--that Patton and Janus were friends of Virgil’s and here to help.</p><p>Roman then had to pry the--for lack of any other possible description, though it made Logan sick to the stomach to think it--ransom note from Logan’s hand to pass it around to the other three. </p><p>“Who is NM?” Janus’s voice was gruff, enough so that Logan didn’t even need to register the wet dog smell to know that he was a werewolf.</p><p>“Nate Miller.” Logan hissed out. His foot tapped impatiently against the polished concrete floor of the tattoo parlor. “He approached me at my work earlier this week.”</p><p>Janus raised a single eyebrow but didn’t challenge it. If Logan were in a better state, he would have noticed the worried tilt to Janus’s mouth, or the way that his back was ramrod straight. He would have noticed that Janus was just as worried for Virgil as he was.</p><p>To Janus’s left, holding the ransom note and staring unblinkingly at it, was Patton. They were trembling, their eyes glassy. Remus was leaning over their shoulder to read the note as well. Logan barely noticed the supportive hand that the human twin had placed on the new vampire’s back.</p><p>“And there was no sign of Virgil?” Logan swallowed back the urge to snap in his reply, only because of the waver in Patton’s voice. “How long ago do you think-”</p><p>“I don’t know.” Logan clipped. “Not long before I arrived back at the apartment. It still reeked of him.” Old Spice and gunpowder. Logan could still smell the phantom of it. “I need to find him.”</p><p>Roman placed a calming hand on Logan’s shoulder. “That’s what we’re trying to do, hothead. We’re trying to get your boyfriend back, but you shouldn’t go running off after a <i>hunter</i> alone. Especially not one that is obviously targeting you.”</p><p>Janus nodded along. “For once, Roman is speaking sense.” Roman’s cheeks flushed a soft pink at the low-bar praise. “I thought that you were supposed to be smart?”</p><p>Logan leveled a glare at the wolf. “I’m sorry, do you know me?”</p><p>Janus shrugged. “Might as well. Virgil talks about you enough.”</p><p>“What does it mean?” Patton interrupted before Logan could respond. “<i>‘You know where to find me.’</i> Do you, Logan?” </p><p>Logan nodded curtly. “The observatory. There’s nothing else that it could mean. That’s where he confronted me before.” Just thinking about it stirred up Logan’s anger again. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, tugging on it at the ends. “I just don’t understand! Why would he take Virgil if he wants me? He’s a human! He has nothing to do with this!”</p><p>The whole room froze and went suddenly, unbearably silent.</p><p>“What?” Logan snapped. He should probably feel worse about being so harsh with his friends--and, apparently, Virgil’s friends--but at the moment he couldn’t bring himself to care.</p><p>“Are you <i>kidding me</i>? Still?” Remus’s voice was shrill. More shrill than usual, even.</p><p>All four of the others were staring directly at Logan, with varying looks of disbelief and resignation. </p><p>“Logan, <i>honey</i>.” Patton’s voice was unbearably fond, despite the fact that Logan had only really known them for a couple of minutes. “Virgil is a vampire too.”</p><p>Logan blinked. Then blinked again. For a moment, just a moment, he forgot all about where they were and what was going on. And suddenly, everything made sense. “<i>Shit</i>.”</p><p>The others watched him, concerned, for just a moment before Janus spoke again, redirecting them all back to the matter at hand. Logan, however, felt as though his head was spinning. Everything that he had known was suddenly turned on its head. He took a deep breath.</p><p>There would be time to deal with his revelation later. For now, he needed to focus. Virgil needed him. Virgil needed all of them.</p><p>Logan looked up, refocusing back on the others. They were talking quietly amongst themselves. Logan cleared his throat.</p><p>“We need to make a plan.”</p><p>----</p><p>The planetarium was silent when Logan arrived. Anyone would have assumed that it was deserted.</p><p>The planetarium was closed for the night, which is why it was Logan’s day off. Usually the planetarium and, specifically, the observatory was a place of comfort for him. Tonight, however, he wanted nothing more than to not have to be here.</p><p>Well, that was untrue. He did want one thing more, and Nate Miller knew it.</p><p>His footsteps echoed through the empty halls. Spinning diagrams of planets and moons that would normally have been mesmerizing hung from the ceiling. During the day, the planetarium was beautiful. </p><p>Logan had the path to the observatory memorized. He walked down the halls quickly but with caution, not using his vampire speed. There was no way of telling what Nate had been prepared for when he demanded that Logan meet him here. There could be any number of traps and Logan needed to keep his head on his shoulders, as Janus had not so politely warned before they had split up.</p><p>Despite his admirable restraint, Logan still moved more recklessly than he probably should have on his way there.</p><p>The door was cracked when Logan reached the observatory, propped open with a stopper. Logan didn’t hesitate before crossing the threshold and entering. It was just as quiet inside the observatory as the rest of the planetarium had been. The aisles of plush, fold theatre-style seats innocently lined the rounded walls and radiated inwards, completely empty. The ceiling was rolled back and open to the heavens. A clear night sky shown down on Logan and the empty rows of seats. It was beautiful, but Logan knew the implications of the sight. </p><p>It was nearing dawn now. The sun would be rising within the hour.</p><p>Behind him, the door slammed shut. Thankfully, Logan had just enough dignity and composure not to flinch at the sound, although he did turn to see that the door had in fact been closed behind him.</p><p>“Well, well, well.” The voice--Nate’s voice--seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. The intercom system. Logan scanned the room for movement, quickly and imperceptibly. To the human eye, he would have simply appeared unmoving. Almost bored. “You actually came. Took you long enough.”</p><p>Logan’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. He had never hated anything more than he hated that voice. “I got caught up.” He responded through clenched teeth. Logan wasn’t thrilled with the concept of conversing with Nate at all, but he needed the time. “Next time you should call.”</p><p>The laugh that followed sounded like nails scraping against a chalkboard to Logan. </p><p>“Oh, but darling, you never gave me your number.”</p><p>Logan’s fingernails were digging crescent moon shaped wounds into his palm. “Enough small talk. Where is he?”</p><p>“Who?” There was laughter still in Nate’s tone. Even though Logan couldn’t see him, his stomach was boiling with rage at the audacity.</p><p>“Enough of the games!” Logan hissed, striding a few purposeful steps further into the circular room. “Where is he? Where is Virgil?”</p><p>There was a despondent sigh from above, and suddenly, Logan could hear the stage in the center of the room rising.</p><p>Logan had been on that platform many times before, giving lectures and presentations to excited audience members. He was always filled with a warm sense of anticipation and excitement before those speeches, no matter the fact that he had given them countless times before.</p><p>Now, he felt nothing but dread as he watched the stage rise up from under the floor to eye level.</p><p>The figure in the center of the stage was strapped to a chair. Logan’s heart lurched to see Virgil, slumped over and limp, but his worry was rapidly overcome by venomous fury when he saw Nate Miller, standing just behind his unconscious roommate, a wooden stake in one hand.</p><p>“The monster is alive. For now. You and I have business to attend to, Doyle. It should be coming around any moment now.”</p><p>----</p><p>Virgil’s head was pounding. The world was spinning, and he hadn’t even opened his eyes yet.</p><p>It was worse than any hangover that he had ever endured as a human. His vision was blurred as his eyes cracked open, spots of brilliant color dancing at the edges of his vision. He felt his fangs poking against his bottom lip. </p><p>Virgil twitched, raising--or at least, trying to raise--his hand to rub at his temples. His eyes shot open as he realized that he couldn’t move his hands. Chest rising and falling rapidly with breaths spurred by increasingly rising anxiety rather than an actual need to breathe, Virgil jerked against the shackles on his wrists. Matching shackles, he realized, locked his feet to the legs of the chair that he was in.</p><p>He couldn’t move at all.</p><p>“I’d stop that if I were you.” An almost bored voice spoke in Virgil’s ear. Jerking away, Virgil turned his neck to face his captor. Distantly, Virgil recognized the face.</p><p>His mind was still swimming, but he remembered it. Opening the door, half expecting Logan to be on the other side, and being met with this man. Knowing almost immediately that something was off, being forced back into his own home, barely having a chance to fight back, barely getting to call out before a sharp pain was radiating through his skull and everything was fading to black.</p><p>Virgil hissed, desperately leaning away from the man and the wooden stake that he was gripping with obvious intent.</p><p>The man’s eyes flashed, the patient facade disintegrating before Virgil’s eyes, revealing a manic sort of rage that terrified Virgil to the core.</p><p>“Virgil.”</p><p>The voice snapped Virgil out of his terror. Virgil’s eyes flew across the room, down to where Logan was standing, in the middle of an aisle--<i>where were they?</i>--worry and--Virgil’s heart panged with hurt--fear in his eyes.</p><p>Logan took a single step forward, but before he could move any more, the man behind Virgil was pressing the tip of the stake right against the spot where his unbeating heart was.</p><p>“Not another step, Doyle. You even try and move and this monster is dust.” The man growled the words in a way that reminded Virgil of someone barely hanging on to sanity. Virgil kept his eyes trained on Logan. The man’s voice smoothened suddenly, as though he were getting himself under thinly spread control. “We can just talk, can’t we? Just the three of us.”</p><p>Virgil sent Logan a pleading look. Logan needed to get out of there. He had to leave before this hunter--because he had to be a hunter, there was no other explanation--hurt him. Logan met the look with a determined shake of the head.</p><p>“Why don’t you introduce us all, Doyle?” </p><p>Virgil swallowed thickly, glancing back at the hunter before returning his eyes to Logan, confused. But Logan wasn’t looking at him any longer. His gaze was trained on the hunter behind him and Virgil felt as though he were missing something distinctly important.</p><p>Logan’s eyes narrowed. Virgil knew that face. Logan was biting back what he really wanted to say, and if there weren’t a stake pointed at his heart, Virgil would have wanted Logan to speak his mind and push this arrogant bastard right off of his soapbox.</p><p>Logan’s eyes flicked back to Virgil’s, and once again Virgil could see that little flicker of fear. Virgil swallowed down his own hurt.</p><p>“Virgil Noir, my roommate and… my friend.” There was something hesitant in the way Logan said it. Virgil tried desperately to focus on his anger. He had every right to be angry right now, and it had everything to do with the hunter threatening to kill him. He had no right to feel so… betrayed by Logan.</p><p>Logan, however, had every right to be scared after finding out that his roommate was a monster.</p><p>“And you are Nate Miller.” Logan continued. Virgil grimaced. Fuck Nate Miller. Virgil hated even his name. “A hunter who approached me yesterday at my place of work, and who is not targeting me. Why?”</p><p>There was a shocked, deranged sounding laugh from behind Virgil, and the hunter placed his hand on Virgil’s shoulder. Disgusted, Virgil shook it off, only to freeze when the sharpened end of the stake pressed threateningly against his chest. “Are you <i>joking</i>?” Nate’s voice was nearly an octave higher than it had been before. He sounded incredulous. “Don’t act like you don’t remember me, Doyle. Stupidity is unflattering for you.”</p><p>Logan’s face remained impassive. Virgil curiously looked him up and down. As someone who considered himself very good at reading Logan, Virgil could confidently say that he genuinely looked confused.</p><p>Virgil forced a laugh past his monumental anxiety. “Looks like you’re not that memorable, dude, sorry to break it to you.”</p><p>Nate grabbed a fistful of Virgil’s hair at the back of his head, tilting it back. “<i>Shut up, bloodsucker!</i> Don’t think I won’t put you down like the monster you are.”</p><p>Virgil gritted his teeth to hide the pain. “Do it then! By the time you turn me to dust, Logan will be gone.” Virgil looked down from where his head was still tilted at the uncomfortable angle to meet Logan’s eyes.</p><p>Logan shook his head minutely and Virgil’s brow furrowed in confusion. </p><p>Nate chuckled, breathlessly, releasing Virgil’s hair from his grasp and stepping around the chair so that Virgil could finally see him fully. Virgil’s first thought was that he was rather short, for a hunter. “Nice try. Goading me into focusing on you. I’m not an amateur. Doyle wouldn’t leave his perfect little boyfriend. That’s why he’s here, you know. For you.”</p><p>Virgil ignored the words, though they made something that wasn’t strictly fear squirm in his gut. He wasn’t going to get hope for his relationship with Logan from a hunter who was threatening to kill him. “Sounds like someone’s jealous.” He said instead, taking a vindictive sort of joy from the fury that was clearly written on Nate’s face at the statement.</p><p>“Virgil.” Logan warned, taking a single step forward.</p><p>Nate held up the stake again, menacingly. “Don’t move, Doyle.” Logan froze. “You want to pretend you don’t remember? Fine, I’ll jog your memory.” Gripping the stake tightly but lowering it, Nate took another step closer, his eyes trained solely on Logan. It made Virgil want to kick him. Luckily for the hunter, his legs were still shackled to his chair.</p><p>“We met three years ago, before you moved here. You were working at that bookshop, remember?” Virgil frowned, his eyes lobbying back and forth between Logan and Nate. He was confused. Why was a hunter so obsessed with Logan? “You were always wearing that cute little scarf. For a few weeks there, I came to the shop to see you every day.”</p><p>Logan’s eyes were widening in recognition, surprise and confusion warring on his perfectly smooth features. Virgil swallowed thickly. Logan knew this hunter.</p><p>“I remember.” Logan’s voice was low, barely there. His hands, which had been tense and balled into white fists since he first arrived at the observatory were relaxing slightly. “But- I don’t understand? If you were a hunter-”</p><p>Nate laughed, an odd mixture of pleased--likely at the fact that Logan suddenly remembered their connection--and cruel. “Please. If I had known right away what you were, I wouldn’t have wasted the time. When I found out, it was right before you moved away. I was disgusted. Wasting so much time and energy on a <i>vampire</i>-” Nate spat the word like a curse.</p><p>Virgil sucked in a shallow breath. A vampire? <i>Logan</i>? No. That couldn’t possibly be true. The hunter had to be mistaken. There was no way that Virgil would not have known that Logan was also a vampire. Except…</p><p>It did sort of make sense. Why Logan was also only ever awake at night, even on his days off. Why he was always just as cold as Virgil was. Why he kept so many jars of jam that Virgil was just realizing were definitely not full of jam. Virgil cursed himself. How had he not known-- How had he not noticed?</p><p>He remembered the other day at the café with Janus and Patton. If he got out of this alive, he was so going to kill Janus.</p><p>Then, of course, it dawned on Virgil exactly what sort of situation they were still in. If Logan was a vampire, then both of them were in danger right now. Logan had come <i>for him</i>, putting himself in grave danger. A hunter may spare a human, but they saw all creatures of the night as the same. Virgil’s eyes widened and he stared at Logan, trying to convey his urgency with his eyes. </p><p>Above all else, Logan had to get out of this observatory okay.</p><p>But Logan wasn’t looking at Virgil anymore.</p><p>“So you followed me?”</p><p>“I had to track you down!” The hunter cried, as if the alternative were impossible. “All you monsters are the same. I couldn’t just let you get away with tricking me-- with seducing me, masquerading as if you could possibly be <i>normal</i>. You’re a killer.”</p><p>Logan looked incensed. “If you’ve been watching me for so long, then you know that I haven’t killed anyone recently.”</p><p>“But you have before.” Nate spat, his eyes wild. “Don’t deny it. All of you are killers, whether you fancy yourself reformed or not. You need to pay for what you’ve done.” Nate gestured to Virgil, hatred burning in his eyes, despite the fact that he couldn’t even deign to look at him properly. “From the research I’ve done about this one, it took it <i>three years</i> before it managed to stop slaughtering humans. You’re all the same, no matter how much better you think that you are.”</p><p>Virgil winced. Guilt clawing at his insides. He barely remembered the three years after he was first turned. It was the darkest period in his past, and having it so gracelessly laid bare in front of Logan made him want to do nothing more than disappear. But when he managed to look back up at Logan there was something… understanding in his eyes.</p><p>And that was when Virgil knew that whatever his past, whatever this hunter said and did, Virgil would do anything in his power to get the man that he loved out of this safely.</p><p>Even if it meant putting his neck on the line by riling up a deranged hunter.</p><p>“And how many lives have you ended in the past year alone?” Virgil hissed, staring defiantly up at his captor. </p><p>Nate scoffed. “None that matter, vampire. You dare to compare the lives of you <i>creatures</i> to human life-”</p><p>“Say,” Virgil drawled, his voice low, “are we just here to listen to you spew your manifesto about how much more pure than us you are, or are you actually going to do something?”</p><p>“Actually, I did have something in mind.” Nate’s face was unnervingly calm again. A pit of dread settled in Virgil’s stomach. Nate nodded up at the ceiling.</p><p>The open dome of a ceiling.</p><p>Virgil looked up and couldn’t help but notice the tell-tale signs of a sunrise along the edges of the circular opening. The clear implications dawned upon him--Patton would be proud that he could manage to think a pun even in such a dire situation--quickly. His eyes slipped closed in momentary resignation.</p><p>The sun is going to rise--likely within the next few minutes--and Virgil was there, shackled to a chair just under the <i>open ceiling</i>. The stake in the hunter’s hand was just for show. He fully intended to burn Virgil alive, and there was nothing that Logan could possibly do about it without risking his own life.</p><p>Logan himself just seemed to be putting together the implications of Nate’s thinly-veiled threat. </p><p>And suddenly, as though a switch were flipped, Logan’s calm demeanor changed. No longer was he feigning interest in Nate’s monologue or humoring his explanations. His fists were once again balled at his sides, white with tension, and for the first time ever, Virgil could see his fangs.</p><p>All at once, Virgil knew that Logan would not be letting this go quietly. He wasn’t completely sure what tipped him off, but he knew that if it came down to it, Logan would not be leaving him to burn alone under any circumstances. </p><p>It’s a sobering realization. Logan was going to risk his own life for no reason at all--because, honestly, how would his death help anyone? Virgil was still stuck there. If Logan really was a vampire--and he <i>obviously</i> was--he could have been out of there and safe before Nate could even blink. Virgil could not fathom why he looked so determined to waste his life, but he already knew what he needed to do about it.</p><p>Virgil forced a laugh. It was loud in the otherwise silent observatory. “Burning me? Really? That’s the best that you could do?”</p><p>Nate looked hilariously offended by the complete lack of shaking in his boots that Virgil was doing.</p><p>Virgil continued. “No, honestly, did you sit in your sad little apartment, surrounded by cut out pictures of Logan and red string and come up with this plan? Did you rub your little hands together and laugh maniacally? Did you honestly think that using the <i>sun</i> as your choice of weapon was poetic or something? What are you going to tell your little hunter friends? That you tracked down your old vampire crush and just sat and watched the sun rise with him?”</p><p>Nate turned an absolutely alarming shade of red. Really, it would have been funny had it not been immediately followed by his fist colliding with Virgil’s nose.</p><p>Virgil barely had time to hold in a grunt of pain before Nate was being pulled off of him and shoved to the ground. Virgil opened his eyes to see Logan on the platform with them, his knees straddling the hunter’s chest, and his hands wrapped around his neck.</p><p>“Logan-” Virgil desperately called out, completely ignoring his throbbing nose.</p><p>Nate was resisting, thrashing against Logan’s hold, and although Logan had the upper hand with the element of surprise, Virgil could do nothing but watch as the hand that was still clutching the wooden stake rose behind Logan.</p><p>“<i>Logan!</i>” The scream tore it’s way out of Virgil’s throat before he could think of the consequences. Logan’s grip on Nate faltered.</p><p>Before anything life shattering could happen, the stake was kicked from Nate’s hand by a black combat boot. Virgil’s eyes snapped up to see what--<i>who</i>--the boot was connected to, and his eyes were met with a man dressed in quite a bit of leather that Virgil had never seen before.</p><p>His first, terrifying thought is that this was another hunter, but no, this man was <i>very</i> obviously not on Nate’s side.</p><p>“<i>Not</i> on my fucking watch.” The man growled, kicking the stake even further away now that it was out of Nate’s grasp. The man looked angry, albeit not as angry as Logan, who was still apparently attempting to choke the life out of the hunter. His wild eyes were matched by a wild nest of shaggy brown hair that had a couple of glinting silver streaks in it, and offset by what appeared to be a very carefully maintained moustache.</p><p>He was altogether the strangest looking person that Virgil had ever seen, and he hadn’t even glanced in Virgil’s direction yet.</p><p>Virgil’s eyes were pulled away from the struggle by a light touch against one of his wrists, just above the shackle.</p><p>“<i>Patton?</i>” Sure enough, Patton was hovering over Virgil now, their eyes kind and concerned.</p><p>“Are you okay, V?” Their voice shook a bit. “What am I saying? Of course you aren’t okay. I’m sorry, Virgil.”</p><p>“Wh- How did you-?”</p><p>Patton smiled kindly, their eyes flicking over to Logan. “Logan called us--or, well, he called Remus,” They nodded in the direction of the punk guy, “and he told Roman, who called me and Janus. We’re going to get you out of here.”</p><p>For the first time since he had been texting Janus and Patton earlier, something loosened in Virgil’s chest. Relief.</p><p>Before he could say anything to thank Patton or perhaps ask who the hell Remus and Roman were, Patton was gripping the shackle that held Virgil’s left hand in place and tearing it away as though it were nothing.</p><p>Sometimes Virgil forgot just how strong they were.</p><p>Patton quickly repeated the process with Virgil’s remaining restraints. </p><p>“Logan. Get off of him.”</p><p>Virgil craned his neck, looking over his shoulder to see what was happening. The scuffle had moved. Logan still had the upper hand, but now there were two more figures standing over him and the hunter. The first was nearly identical to the one in the combat boots, though minus the moustache and with much tidier hair. The second--</p><p>“Janus.” Virgil almost felt like smiling at the sight of his friend. Janus looked up, his two-toned eyes flashing in the light.</p><p>Right. The light. The sunlight that was quickly approaching.</p><p>“<i>Logan</i>.” It was the second unknown one, the one with the perfect hair, that was speaking. Virgil just noticed the pointed ears that were poking out between his curls. “You have to stop. Remus, Jan and I have this. It’s almost sunrise. You have to get out of here, Logan.” </p><p>But Logan wasn’t listening. Virgil’s chest constricted. There was something dark--something dangerous--in Logan’s eyes. Nate wasn’t fighting much anymore. Any words that Virgil might have said were stuck in his throat.</p><p>Beside him, Patton whimpered.</p><p>“Logan!” The one with the moustache snapped, reaching down and grabbing one of Logan’s biceps. “Logan, you need to get Patton and Virgil out of here.”</p><p>Something of what the human said must have registered in Logan’s mind, because his grip on Nate loosened until he was no longer strangling him. Luckily, Nate didn’t get a chance to recover, because as soon as Logan was pulling away, Janus had Nate in his grasp, his eyes flashing golden.</p><p>Virgil could breathe again. He trusted that Janus, and whoever those other two were, had this. </p><p>“Logan.” He called, breathless. His voice was still raw from screaming earlier. His nose was still gushing blood and very likely crooked, but he didn’t care in the slightest. Not when Logan looked up at him.</p><p>In an instant, Logan was across the room and pulling Virgil into his arms. And Virgil let him. He didn’t resist for even a second, willingly letting himself melt against Logan like he’s a lifeline.</p><p>And in some ways, he was.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Logan’s voice was achingly tender. So heartbreakingly tender, given what he had just been doing seconds ago. “Did he- Did he hurt you any more than-”</p><p>Virgil cut him off because that dangerous note was coming back into Logan’s tone. It shouldn’t have been as hot as it was. It shouldn’t have been hot at all. “I’m fine, L. Are you-”</p><p>“If you’re safe, I am.”</p><p>And it was terrible timing. Just feet away, his best friend and two other people who he could only assume were Logan’s friends were fighting with a hunter. Patton was still right behind him, standing just off the stage, watching. But Virgil found himself leaning just that much closer to Logan. It was as if Logan had his own gravitational pull that tugged only on Virgil. He glanced down at Logan’s lips. One was split, but otherwise they looked just the same as they had the other night, when they were safe in their apartment.</p><p>Virgil let out a shaky exhalation. When he looked back up, Logan’s eyes were trained downwards. Towards his own lips. Virgil licked his lips.</p><p>Behind him, Patton gently cleared their throat. Virgil whirled around.</p><p>“I don’t want to interrupt, kiddos, but the sun is going to rise any minute now. We need to get you home.” They didn’t speak for themselves, but Virgil knew that Patton wouldn’t be leaving without them, and he didn’t want his friend to burn alive either.</p><p>He glanced back at Logan, but Logan’s expression was shuttered once again.</p><p>“Yes, you’re correct, Patton. We need to leave now.”</p><p>Virgil glanced back at the other four one last time. They had Nate under control once again. Swallowing, Virgil turned back to Patton and Logan and nodded once. “Let’s get out of here.”</p><p>----</p><p>In the end, they did indeed make it back to their apartment before the sun rises, if just barely. Patton left them only once they were sure that Logan and Virgil were okay enough to be left alone at their apartment.</p><p>Which was perfectly fair, because they had just had a home invasion only a few hours ago.</p><p>When they were back in the apartment building and safe from the approaching dawn, the two of them began to clean the apartment in silence.</p><p>It really wasn’t that big of a mess, but both of them seemed to silently agree that they would not be able to rest until the apartment was returned to the state that it had been before. When things were safe.</p><p>Virgil’s tongue felt too big in his mouth as he helped right the entryway. Only hours ago he had been trying and failing to fend off Nate in this very spot. And, sure, things were okay now, but somehow it feels suddenly much  more real than it had when they were leaving the observatory.</p><p>As for Logan… He looked tense. It was understandable. Because Virgil had gone and got himself <i>kidnapped</i> like some sort of damsel in distress-</p><p>His stomach curled in on itself. He couldn’t shake the anxious thought that Logan was… angry with him for it.</p><p>And it was stupid. It was so stupid, and Virgil knew it. After everything that Logan just went through to get Virgil back, there was very <i>very</i> little chance that Logan would blame anyone other than Nate for this turn of events. And even if he did blame someone else, Virgil knew Logan, and he knew that if anything, he was likely blaming himself.</p><p>Which was even more stupid.</p><p>Once the entryway was presentable again, Logan cleared his throat. Virgil paused, halfway through taking his hoodie off. Usually he wore it even when inside their apartment, but right now everything that he was wearing felt… <i>dirty</i>.</p><p>“Are you sure that you’re alright?” Logan’s voice was soft. Quieter than usual. Almost… unsure. Which was almost unheard of for Logan.</p><p>Virgil softened, pulling his jacket the rest of the way off. “I’m… I won’t lie, Logan, I’m pretty shaken but… I’ll be fine. Are you…?”</p><p>Logan dodged the question, finally looking over at Virgil with thinly masked guilt in his eyes. “Your nose stopped bleeding.”</p><p>Virgil reached up a tentative hand to his face. To be honest, he had forgotten about it. The pain had numbed, but when he prodded it gently with a finger, he could tell that it was definitely broken. Patton would have said something if it had needed to be set, though, so Virgil wasn’t too worried. “I’m sure I’m a sight right now.” He chuckled weakly. It fell flat. There was silence in the apartment for a moment. “Logan-”</p><p>“I’m sorry.” Logan exclaimed, before Virgil could continue. “This is my fault. I… If you were hurt, I would… I never would have forgiven myself.”</p><p>“Don’t say that.” Virgil tried, stepping closer to Logan.</p><p>“It’s true.” Logan insisted. “If he had hurt you, or heaven forbid-” Logan made a little choked noise. “I couldn’t have lived with myself. You did nothing wrong. You didn’t deserve-”</p><p>“And neither did you.” Virgil’s voice was firm, pushing back against all denial. “You didn’t call this upon us, Logan. I don’t care if he thought that he knew you, or if he had hurt me any more than he did. None of it was your fault, and none of it would have been your fault. He is a hunter. I’m- <i>We’re</i> vampires. It could have happened at any time with any hunter.”</p><p>“But it didn’t! It was <i>him</i>, and he was targeting me. He only hurt you because I-”</p><p>Virgil’s mouth felt very dry as Logan cut himself off. “What matters is that we’re safe. We’re okay.” He tried to reassure Logan.</p><p>Logan closed his eyes, defeat settling over his features. “You don’t understand. He only hurt you because of how much I love you.”</p><p>The words hung in the air, heavy. They certainly weren’t how Virgil had ever imagined that they would be said for the first time. Still, a soft warmth blooms in Virgil’s chest. There were nerves there too, but he found it easy to ignore them. Mostly, he felt an overwhelming sense of rightness. Two days ago it had been impossible to consider that Logan loved him back.</p><p>But now… it was like he could see that Logan had been saying it for a long time now. He had said it earlier, when he had been so obviously terrified for Virgil. He had said it the night before, when he held Virgil close and they swayed around the kitchen. He had said it even before that, when he made sure to be quiet every evening when he left for work just after sunset, when Virgil was still holding on to sleep. He said it when he picked ocean documentaries for Virgil, even though he was not-so-secretly terrified of the ocean. He had said it countless times since they had met, even though Virgil was only just now hearing it for the first time.</p><p>Virgil took the remaining few steps forward to close the distance between them. Logan looked almost pained. Before Virgil could lose his confidence in himself--in this--he reached out and placed a hand on Logan’s cheek.</p><p>When Logan met his eyes, Virgil damn near melted into the ground. Logan’s deep, chocolate brown eyes always were a weakness of his. He wanted to say something. But, then again, Virgil never really had been the one that was good with words. That was definitely more Logan’s department. Instead, Virgil just leaned forward and closed the distance between them completely.</p><p>Logan’s lips were soft, just like the rest of him was, although he was loathe to show it. He gasped softly against Virgil’s mouth, but he didn’t even try to pull away.</p><p>Logan leaned into the kiss with an insistence that made Virgil’s still heart pirouette in his chest. Virgil exhaled, and it felt as though he had been holding his breath his entire life, despite the fact that he hadn’t needed to breathe in just over fourteen years.</p><p>Kissing Logan was like finally coming home. And though it was terribly cliché, Virgil couldn’t bother to imagine another way to describe it. Virgil couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of this sensation. From his head to his toes, he felt <i>warm</i>. </p><p>He felt alive.</p><p>Slowly, Virgil parted his lips under Logan’s and even though Virgil had been the one to initiate the kiss, he was surprised when Logan took his lower lip between his own. Virgil didn’t bother to hold back the low noise that arose in the back of his throat, thankful once again that he couldn’t blush.</p><p>The noise seemed to be appreciated, though, because Logan made a rather audible noise of appreciation. Right before Virgil felt a sting on his lower lip.</p><p>Logan pulled back almost immediately after, a startled--no, a <i>shell shocked</i>--expression on his face. His fangs were descended and Virgil knew instantly that that was what he had felt. He bit back a laugh.</p><p>Logan looked breathless. He looked breathtaking.</p><p>“I love you too.” Virgil confessed, his hand still cradling Logan’s cheek. “Of course I do. I would have done exactly the same thing if it were you.”</p><p>And Logan.</p><p>Logan <i>laughed</i>.</p><p>And it was the tension break that they needed after the completely <i>awful</i> night that they had both just experienced.</p><p>It was not a loud laugh. It was not really hysterical, either, though Virgil would have understood if Logan had lost his mind just a bit after the night that they had just had. It was a laugh of disbelief, mostly, and Virgil wholeheartedly agreed.</p><p>He couldn’t hold back a smile, and as he often couldn’t when he was with Logan. He didn’t even want to try. So instead he smiled.</p><p>Logan’s eyes turned serious. “I love you.” He repeated, this time with more conviction. He brought up a hand to cradle Virgil’s face, just as Virgil was. Virgil ran the pad of his thumb across Logan’s perfect cheekbone.</p><p>“I love you too.” Virgil replied. And after everything, that was enough.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>